First pcb project. Installed battery box backward and fired up before I discovered my mistake. IC's got pretty hot. Are they fried? Do they need to be replaced?

Also, missed RA1 & RA2 (not in kit) before fire up. Installed from my own stock. Will this affect IC's?

Now have only 1 column with 4 or 5 LED's lit up, sporadically.

Any suggestions?

Hi Ceka,
Sorry about the missing resistors (Doh!)-- ones from your own stock should be fine, 750 ohm up to 1 k.

Your microcontroller is pretty tough, will probably survive a minute or so plugged in backwards-- it gets hot. The other chips-- particularly those LED driver chips-- are not very resistant to reverse power, and may die immediately. I'd certainly suggest replacing those, and if that isn't sufficient, you may need to replace the demultiplexer chips and/or the microcontroller.